What may have started as an innocent jab at Hilaria Baldwin by comedian Amy Schumer, has evolved into a deep-state-like investigation into Baldwin’s cultural past, and is ending with an admission by Baldwin of misrepresentation.
Hilaria Baldwin, a yoga studio owner and health and wellness personality has been claiming to be born on the Spanish island of Mallorca, when she was actually born in Boston.
"I’ve seen chatter online questioning my identity and culture,” the 36-year-old wife to Alec Baldwin wrote below an Instagram video Sunday. “I was born in Boston and grew up spending time with my family between Massachusetts and Spain.”
The discovery has led to online conversations about cultural misappropriation and, as Baldwin has described herself as a Latina and in the video admits she changed her name from Hillary to Hilaria.
“My parents and sibling live in Spain, and I chose to live here, in the USA,” Baldwin says. “We celebrate both cultures in our home — Alec and I are raising our children bilingual, just as I was raised.”
In the end, Baldwin says in the video, “I am a white girl. Let’s be very clear that Europe has a lot of white people in there,” she also said. “My family is white. Ethnically, I am a mix of many, many, many things. Culturally, I grew up with two cultures. So it’s really as simple as that.”
Hilaria Baldwin and Alec Baldwin have five children together.
In the middle of the online dust-up, comedian Suni Reyes posted a parody sketch video: “Culturally, I’m a mix of two cultures, rich-white-girl-from-Boston culture, and rich-white-girl-from-Boston-who-vacations-in-Spain,” she said.